The mens team managed to scrape past Chile thanks to a Billy Dardis "I don't care about my own health or safety I just have to stop this guy" tackle and a last play try from the resulting lineout deep in their own 22. They play the Blitzboks in the round of 16 next.

The womens team were absolutely murdered by New Zealand - playoffs for 5th through 12th place are their next fixtures

Dave Cahill wrote:The mens team managed to scrape past Chile thanks to a Billy Dardis "I don't care about my own health or safety I just have to stop this guy" tackle and a last play try from the resulting lineout deep in their own 22. They play the Blitzboks in the round of 16 next.

The womens team were absolutely murdered by New Zealand - playoffs for 5th through 12th place are their next fixtures

I have been pleasantly surprised at how good our Sevens team are. They are particularly good at retaining possession, always tough in Sevens (almost bringing the Schmidt approach to Sevens). We have a lot of pace throughout the team, even by Sevens standards. Conroy is the only real world class sprinter there but the 'average speed' of our players seems to be better than nearly all other teams. When Mark Roche is fit, we also have one of the best drop goal converters out there.

Based on the last couple of months, if we were on the Sevens circuit I think we'd be challenging Australia and the USA to come fifth behind NZ, RSA, Fiji and England at the end of the Series, which is pretty damn good.

"This is breathless stuff.....it's on again. Contepomi out to Hickie,D'Arcy,Hickie.......................HICKIE FOR THE CORNER! THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would really like to see Leinster give Billy Dardis a proper opportunity. A really talented player who could deliver a lot of what Joey Carberry gave us at fullback without all the headlines complaining about not selecting him at outhalf! He's still only 23 now and has been representing Ireland at various grades/codes every year since he was 17: U18 Schools in 2012 & 2013, U19 in 2014, U20 in 2014 & 2015 and Sevens since 2016. From everything I've heard he's got a first rate attitude, is a total pro in terms of his preparation and is always looking to get better.

Dardis spent four years in the academy and never got a spot in a matchday squad at senior level, which was completely cack-handed management. We gave Brendan Macken 46 caps for f*ck's sake ... and he couldn't pass, tackle or kick.

Not getting a run-out for the senior side while you're in the Academy tends to be taken as a black-and-white decision on whether you're good enough for pro rugby, but it isn't. Tadhg Beirne [the obvious example] has proven it, but there's Tom Farrell as well.

He didn't get a minute in his three years in the academy but showed what he was capable of in Connacht - he slowed up a little in the second half of the season, but at the halfway point he was the top of the charts across the Pro14 in carries, defenders beaten and offloads [source: https://www.pro14rugby.org/2018/07/05/t ... -connacht/ ] - and he finished top of the offloads chart at the end of the season and ended up as their fans' Player of the Year.

neiliog93 wrote:Based on the last couple of months, if we were on the Sevens circuit I think we'd be challenging Australia and the USA to come fifth behind NZ, RSA, Fiji and England at the end of the Series, which is pretty damn good.

Ireland have been very good but let's not get carried away. They need to qualify for the series first. Being consistent over the course of a season is a much much harder task that being the surprise invitational side (as in unknown) in London and Paris then a decent showing at the world cup where they were probably a lot more motivated than most of the rest of the teams left in their part of the draw.

Would really like to see Leinster give Billy Dardis a proper opportunity. A really talented player who could deliver a lot of what Joey Carberry gave us at fullback without all the headlines complaining about not selecting him at outhalf! He's still only 23 now and has been representing Ireland at various grades/codes every year since he was 17: U18 Schools in 2012 & 2013, U19 in 2014, U20 in 2014 & 2015 and Sevens since 2016. From everything I've heard he's got a first rate attitude, is a total pro in terms of his preparation and is always looking to get better.

Dardis spent four years in the academy and never got a spot in a matchday squad at senior level, which was completely cack-handed management. We gave Brendan Macken 46 caps for f*ck's sake ... and he couldn't pass, tackle or kick.

Not getting a run-out for the senior side while you're in the Academy tends to be taken as a black-and-white decision on whether you're good enough for pro rugby, but it isn't. Tadhg Beirne [the obvious example] has proven it, but there's Tom Farrell as well.

He didn't get a minute in his three years in the academy but showed what he was capable of in Connacht - he slowed up a little in the second half of the season, but at the halfway point he was the top of the charts across the Pro14 in carries, defenders beaten and offloads [source: https://www.pro14rugby.org/2018/07/05/t ... -connacht/ ] - and he finished top of the offloads chart at the end of the season and ended up as their fans' Player of the Year.

There was a fair amount of hype around Dardis when he came out of school and straight into the academy but I don't ever remember being particularly impressed by him on the occasions I saw him playing for Leinster A. The comparison with Cian Kelleher (only five months older than Dardis) seemed particularly stark, especially when you consider that Dardis joined the academy a full season before Kelleher.

Of course, players develop at different rates and there is precedent for players overlooked by Leinster going on to do well, but Dardis had four seasons with us. That's a lengthy enough time in which to make little to no impression on the coaching staff.

Dardis spent four years in the academy and never got a spot in a matchday squad at senior level

He also had a year in the Senior Squad, but he dislocated his shoulder in a preseason friendly and by the time he came back Lancaster had arrived and without Dardis having a chance to impress him he was always playing catchup.

I've been really impressed with Terry Kennedy over the last few tournaments - his attitude reminds me a lot of McFadden